DiscO-Week

 

 What is O-Week?

If there’s one thing Rice doesn’t take chances with, it’s making sure you have a community that will help you prosper. Plenty of other schools offer an orientation program, but only Rice has O-Week. Orientation Week (O-Week) is your first formal introduction to Rice University and Martel College. O-Week is designed to be 50% fun and 50% academic. This means that the week includes a wide range of events and activities. You will hear speeches from the President and faculty members, see presentations from various departments, and learn all the ins and outs of general college life. Because Rice is no ordinary university, getting an introduction to all the quirks and institutional secrets will take a full week, but don’t worry. You will have a great time. The transitional week is packed with everything from physically moving in on the first day to class registration to icebreakers to late night food runs to impossibly ridiculous activities to traditional festivities. In fact, many Rice alumni still cite Orientation Week as the highlight of their Rice experience. To many, O-Week is like an additional birthday in August, for there are so many dedicated upperclassmen (advisors) there giving up weeks of their summer to come back early to cater to your every need. The goal of O-Week is to thoroughly acclimate you to college life both socially and academically. While you might not have all the answers immediately, the structure of O-Week allows for each student to have at least one “go to” person before classes even start. O-Week is about making the goodbyes easier, and your beginnings at Rice and Martel that much easier.

 

Check out our O-Week book here (unavailable now)!

 

Mission Statement

With our O-Week we hope to welcome and include all New Students into the Martel Family by cultivating a warm, genuine, and accessible community. We expect Advisors and Co-Advisors to participate in and foster a culture of vulnerability, respect of diversity, and the support of New Students through this academic, social, and personal transition. New Students will be empowered to find worth in their differences, seek help when needed, and contribute to this newfound family. After O-Week, these students will have the tools to grow in the midst of transition, and make Rice and Martel their home.